


Make the Face

by Ryuki



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Drunken Flirting, F/M, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 07:59:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12384126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryuki/pseuds/Ryuki
Summary: Xixa, drunk at the Rowdy Raven, makes a request that Julian isn’t sure how to fulfill.





	Make the Face

Julian shifted under Xixa’s intent stare. She had been silent for quite a long time, staring at him. A dark ale sat before her, a new beverage from her normal fruity cocktail. To say she could hold her liquor was… well, a straight-up lie. The doctor took a gulp from his stein, feeling his face heat up under the apprentice’s intent stare.  

Averting his gaze, he took in the boisterous atmosphere of the Rowdy Raven. Chatter, music, and the clink of glasses filled the pleasantly warm air. Somewhere in the far corner, an old woman laughed. Suddenly, Xixa broke the silence between them, “Make th’ face!”

He nearly spluttered mead all over himself. Turning his gaze to Xixa. Her flushed face and opalescent eyes held determination in them. “What?”

“The mean face you made when you broke into my shop the first night.” Xixa waved a hand in front of her face, as if that would assist Julian in remembering. When he still blankly stared at her, the inebriated woman continued, “When you w’re all, Where’s th’ witch?” Xixa deepened her voice, apparently imitating Julian, “And I was thinkin’ ‘Right fuckin here, take me I’m ready!’ And then you had me read your cards.”

“I’m sure I have no clue what you’re talking about.” Even if he did, Julian wasn’t sure he could mimic one of his expressions at a whim. Even if it was the apprentice’s whim.

“Ugh, yesss, you doooo,” she singsonged at him, leaning across their table. Her nose nearly touched his as she hovered, a little wobbly, near his face. Her lips twisted into a playful pout. “Please, Julian.”

That expression on her face sent prickles down the back of his neck. His face flushed, as his eye fell to the stein his hands fumbled with. “I-I really don’t think I can do that, Xixa.”

Xixa became quiet. The doctor peeked up at her and his stomach turned into a heated knot. The apprentice narrowed her eyes, displeased with this answer. Julian felt equally miserable and inflamed by the look.  On the one hand, she was disappointed. On the other,  _fuck_  if she leveled that look at him when she was sober. If only she cast that look his way when she was sober and able to discipline him.

A shadow fell across their table. Julian and Xixa glanced up at the hulking man who grinned crookedly down at them. The scent of some acrid beer floated off him in a miasma. The stranger’s gaze flickered to the teal-haired apprentice, leaning a bit closer to her. “Honey, if he won’t take care of you, I’ll be honored.”

An explosion of heat clawed up the back of Julian’s skull, carving a scowl over his lips. He’d seen this man at the bar before and he had never chose to approach a sober Xixa. The one time Xixa was sopping drunk, though, and he descends?  _Scum_. Julian’s grip tightened on his stein.

Xixa raised an eyebrow at the man, obviously unaware of the situation or what he was hinting at. “No, thanks. Jules does jus’ fine.”

“Hey, he’s obviously not interested,” the man persisted, looping finger around Xixa’s upper arm, “So why not?”

A strangled sound rose from Xixa’s throat and her hand immediately pushed the stranger’s hold away. That didn’t stop the fire that ate through Julian’s synapses, though. Pushing his chair back, the doctor stood, towering over the interloper. Eyebrows lowered, eye narrowed, a twisted snarl on his lips, Julian set a heavy hand on the stranger’s shoulder, “She said no. Go away.”

The stranger shrugged off Julian’s hand and turned, ready to deliver some undoubtedly witty retort. However, he miscalculated his opponent’s height. Each inch the man’s gaze rose, his eyes seemed to widen even more. When he finally reached Julian’s face, the stranger seemed to lose the ruddiness in his cheeks. He only managed a squeaky “sorry” before skulking off.

Julian remained standing, glaring after the interloper. A small sound from Xixa made him forget the fiery rage eating away at his thoughts. Tilting his head down toward his companion, the sudden worry that she had been hurt by the man flashed through his head.

Her lips were parted in a wide grin, face still flushed from her drink. However, it looked like there was another underlay to the redness in her face. Her gaze, darkening with delight and lasciviousness, darted around his face. She seemed to be drinking in his features.

“What?” He barked, the word coming out harsher than intended. Embarrassed with himself, Julian glanced away, ears burning.

He heard Xixa’s chair scoot across the floor and the pad of her shoes against the wood. Her arms snaked around his middle, coaxing his heart to a faster beat as she snuggled her head against his chest. For once, Julian wished he had fastened up his shirt as Xixa’s warm cheek rubbed against his bare skin. Slightly confused, and growing more flustered as other Rowdy Raven patrons whooped and leered, Julian wrapped his arms around the apprentice. Agonizingly, for Julian, she arched under the weight of his arms, pressing flush against his body.

“That’s the face I was talking about,” Xixa’s murmured, her lips ghosting across his bare chest. “Thank you.”

“How’re you going to show him your gratitude, lass?” Someone yelled from a far corner. Julian whipped his gaze around the bar, flustered and furious.

The apprentice hummed thoughtfully to herself as she turned in Julian’s arms. She didn’t move from outside his protective circle, but she did lean back against him. At the back of Julian’s mind, he mentally cursed himself for being tempted. Xixa wasn’t making it easy on him, though, as she wiggled her hips in slow circles.

“I’m going to thank him,” Xixa purred, “By  _not_  throwing up on his boots.”

She bolted from his arms and the pub, a raucous chorus of laughter following her. From the alleyway, the sound of her retching echoed back into the bar. After giving himself a moment to breath, Julian followed after her. Maybe the cool air would help his overheated situation.


End file.
